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Disclaimer: I don't own Angel Sanctuary or the characters in it, bla bla bla ^_^ First Impressions - By Reverie (rhome_de_castrali@hotmail.com) Raphael sighed deeply and slipped his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. A light breeze drifted through the windows and played with the thin cream curtains, cooling the humid air of the Virtue office. Raphael breathed in deeply, gagging at the strong reek of antiseptic and latex, the overpowering sense of formality and obsessive perfection. He pulled a pair of rubber gloves off his hands, wincing as they pinched at his skin, and tossed them into the plastic bag by the examination table. The soft, conclusive footsteps of another angel echoed in the spotless corridor outside the room; Raphael heard a knock on the door, and quickly finished cleaning up as he hurried to answer the door. "Sorry I made you wait..." he began breathlessly, opening the door. He stopped abruptly, faced with an enigmatic smile and dark sapphire blue eyes that constantly showed they knew something he didn't. Belial brushed a tendril of tangled blood red hair off her creamy cheek and continued to smile. "Belial-dono..." Raphael said, unsure. "Did you... want something?" She stepped past him into the room. "Hmmmm... Barbiel just asked me to come by and pick up some documents she was looking for... that's all." Raphael bit his lip, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Slender limbs moved gracefully; even in the pressed lab coat she was wearing, he could see how flat and childlike her chest was, something that had always confused him. She was a woman, after all; despite her flat chest, the energy and sense of her aura was feminine. But her body contradicted that: flat chest and non-existant hips came together with slender limbs and narrow shoulders to create a body so much like a child's, so androgynous. Belial caught him staring, glanced up with those amused eyes and laughed. "What's the matter, Raphael?" she said sweetly. "Something caught your eye?" Another soft laugh as she gathered a pile of clipped papers into her arms and hugged them to her chest. She walked casually over to where he stood, unable to move, shaking slightly. A delicate fingertip traced over his lips as he breathed, his eyes wide. "You're so naive, Raphael-sama... but I like you anyway. I always have had a soft spot for the naive ones." She left, echoing laughter and soft footsteps. Raphael reached up and touched his lips, unable to breathe. ~ ~ ~ There was a taste in Belial's mouth. A gritty and disgusting yet sweet-and-sour taste, the filth that always filled her soul, dribbled like liquid into her mouth whenever she spoke. Nothing in the world could ever wash away the awful yet somehow alluring flavour of decadence, a flavour that had grown since the ancient days when her lust for flesh began, when she first smiled, lay down and opened her legs. Hmmm? Reflecting, Belial? How unlike you to dwell on your past. "Even worthless things like me reflect occasionally, I guess," she murmured to herself, dragging her fingertips through her tangled hair and brushing it back, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the man working at the desk across the room. Raphael, biting his lip in concentration, glasses in front of blue eyes as always, scribbling away with a pen. He was so fucking naive. So... virtuous. He'd probably never even slept with a woman before, never ran his hands over a body sleeker and differently cut from flesh than his own. Belial chewed on a fingernail in thought. It annoyed the shit out of her, his naivety; tempted her like the snake tempted Eve towards the forbidden fruit in Eden. Belial smiled to herself. She always did have a desire for the forbidden. ~ ~ ~ It was barely dawn when Raphael awoke to an icy cold morning, blinking in the pale, early light that crept through the gap in the curtains. His eyes adjusting, he realised he was tangled in slender limbs, sweat cold in the small of his back and a tendril of someone else's hair resting on his lips. Wincing as a sharp headache tore itself into his head, he watched Belial's sleeping face, her eyelashes resting on her pale cheeks. For a moment, he couldn't remember for the life of him why she was there. Then, last night's memories came flooding back to him. Too much wine... a passionate kiss... and a confused medley of sweat and tangled hair. He watched her sleep. She was so different when her mind wasn't awake; gone were the indecent ambitions, the desire for decadence, the dirty little secrets she'd told him as the wine swirled in the glass and poured down his throat. He looked down at that flat, little girl's chest. You can change anything if you have the desire to do so... Stop anything right in its path... Even the progression of your own body. You want to know my secret? I don't want to be a woman... So I took drugs to stop the process. Beautiful, isn't it? Look what I've become! Just a useless lump of flesh to fulfill lust... Raphael brushed her face lightly with his fingertips, those smooth pale lips and that softly curved nose. He could taste her somehow, gritty and disgusting, sweet-and-sour, a flavour in his mouth that he knew he would never be able to wash out. He stared at her sleeping face. He had thought all angels were pure and innocent, beautiful creatures covered in light and glory. This... this 'woman' was nothing pure. Were all other women like her? Seemingly beautiful and pure creatures on the outside, filth on the inside? What use were creatures like that? He closed his eyes. Maybe they were all like her, useless puppets to pass the time in boring lives. |